Singapore Enchantment
by Smenzer
Summary: Set during AWE. After James is stabbed by Bootstrap, Elizabeth manages to rescue him onto the Empress. But is the weird Singapore magic enough to save him, especially since she is the one who has to use it? James/Elizabeth. Norribeth.
1. Chapter 1

Singapore Enchantment

Title: Singapore Enchantment  
>Author: Smenzer<br>Rating: PG-13  
>Pairing: JamesElizabeth  
>Characters: James, Elizabeth, Chai, Mei, Tai Huang<br>Genre: Drama/Supernatural/Action  
>Summary: Set during AWE. After James is stabbed by Bootstrap, Elizabeth manages to rescue him from the Dutchman onto the Empress. But is the weird Singapore magic strong enough to save his life, especially since she is the one who has to use it?<br>Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. They belong to Disney.

Author's Note: The two Chinese girls in this story are not Park and Lian from the Bath-house scene as they were both killed. These are the twin Chinese girls known as the "Empress Twins" that were on the Empress and who helped dress Elizabeth in the fancy outfit for Sao Feng. They don't appear to have names, so I have decided to call them Chai and Mei.

Elizabeth Swann clung to the thick rope that trailed from the Empress with all of her might, her fingers white-knuckled as she was dragged through the freezing ocean. The numb-inducing waves however could not compete with the ice dagger that had stabbed through her heart a moment before as she had watched James fall to the deck of the Flying Dutchman, run through with a sword. Never before had she felt so helpless as she did now. Even before, on her very first adventure with Pintel and Ragetti, she had "parlay" up her sleeve. But what could she do now but cling to a rope? She was down here and James was up there, the distance between them growing already.

Somehow she felt it was her fault. She had called out to him at the wrong moment, distracting him as the crazy fishman approached. If only she had kept her mouth shut, if only she had been more persuasive in convincing James to come with her, if only there was something she could do! At the moment it was hard just keeping her head out of the water, her elaborate Asian outfit now water soaked and threatening to pull her under. Waves slapped her in the face and she coughed, clearing her nostrils. How much time had passed since he had fallen? Was he still alive? Could she save him somehow?

She felt the rope moving now, the Asian pirates pulling the rope up onto the deck. She tightened her grip and hung on, kicking with her feet to bring her closer to the Empress. Then she was hauled up the side like a sack of potatoes, the strong Asian pirates dealing with her scant weight easily. She transferred her grip to the railing and quickly climbed onto the deck to face them. Many of them stood there staring at her while others ran around doing their jobs with the sails as they prepared to flee Jones' ship of monstrous mutants.

"You Captain now." Tai Haung reminded her, his arm wrapped in a sling of white cloth. It had been clearly damaged somehow when the Flying Dutchman had attacked them earlier. He wore a straw worker's hat, a studded leather jacket, pants that went only to his knees and sandals. One eye was a faded gray and the other a normal brown. His hair was long and in a ponytail that flowed down his back.

"Turn this ship around, now!" Elizabeth screamed at them in her best voice of command as water dripped off of her and onto the deck around her. She impatiently shoved wet strands of hair out of her eyes. "We have to rescue James! He risked his life to save us from that cell and now he needs us!"

"We small. Dutchman big." Tau Haung stated in English, fear clear in his mismatched eyes. "She outguns us and we are injured. How do you propose we do this?"

How? Elizabeth didn't have the bloodiest idea how they could do it. And she was very aware of the gaping hole that went right through the Captain's cabin from the cannon shot that had killed Sao Feng. And many of the crew was injured to boot. If they turned around now and attacked the Dutchman, they might not escape again. But she couldn't just leave James to die, either. Her thin body trembled from the stress of it, hot anger keeping her from freezing in the dripping clothes. How could she get these pirates to obey her? Most of them didn't even understand English and she was forced to rely on the first officer, Tau Haung, to translate her orders for her. Worst, he didn't like that she was Captain, but had been quick enough to point at her earlier when they had been captured! That labeled him as one of the worst sorts possibly.

"Blazing Air…" a soft voice stated.

Elizabeth turned her gaze onto the young woman who had spoken. It was one of Sao Feng's female bodyguards, one of the Chinese twins that had dressed her earlier. She didn't recall seeing the girl in the cell with the other pirates, but she was clearly here again so she must have been.

"That has never been proven to work!" Tau Haung snorted in disgust.

"What is it?" Elizabeth demanded to know, hope growing within her chest. She knew that many wondrous inventions and weapons had come from the Orient, including black powder and fireworks. "If this Blazing Air has a chance to save James, we have to take it! There is no time to lose!"

"It experimental weapon against Jones. Never tested." Tau Haung stood there looking sour. It was clear he would rather flee.

"Then we test it now! There is no better time! Jones believes we are fleeing so he won't expect an attack! Look, he doesn't even care enough to pursue us!" Elizabeth pointed behind them to where it was clear that the Flying Dutchman didn't even care that they had escaped. No orders rang out on the other ship, no busy crew ran about preparing things. "Get this Blazing Air and use it! We attack the Flying Dutchman!"

Tau Haung tightened his lips into a thin pale line, but then he bowed slightly in her direction and shouted orders in Chinese. The crew grew wide-eyed and fearful, but they ran to do his bidding. A cannon was loaded with some mysterious object and the ship came about, turning with ease as it was small and maneuverable. Soon they were approaching the Dutchman from the rear, in silence.

"Jones is fish-man. He likes it wet. Blazing Air removes water from fish-man, makes him weak and dry. We test earlier on real fish. Not harm humans, only fish." Tau Haung explained. "Sao Feng knew we would face Jones sooner or later, so he had this developed in secret. Still, I doubt it. Fish-man are unnatural and not real fish."

Elizabeth knew she was asking a lot of the pirates and it was a miracle that they were obeying her at all. Pirates generally did what was in their own best interest and in this case, that was fleeing for their lives. Perhaps she had gained their trust by staying in the same cell with them or the fact that it was her obvious friendship with James that had rescued them. Whatever it was, she was thankful that it was working! If only their luck would hold out a little longer!

The Dutchman was incredibly close now and then the loud retort of the Empress' cannon rang out. She saw the bright flash of fire from the cannon's mouth and then instead of a heavy lead ball striking the enemy ship, strange red sparkles filled the air above the Dutchman's deck. And then they were alongside it and hooks were being thrown upward onto the Dutchman's taller deck. Chinese pirates shimmied up the ropes as fast as monkeys and she stepped forward to follow them, but a strong hand gripping her elbow stopped her.

"Wait here. They bring." Cautioned her new first officer.

And he was as good as his word. A moment later the pirates were coming back carrying James. They had him strapped to a board they had found somewhere and Elizabeth cried out when she saw the sword protruding from his body. She dashed forward then, an icy fear squeezing the very air out of her chest. Could he still be alive with an injury like that? Within a few scant moments she was at his side and quickly gripped his limp hand. It felt cool but she could feel a weak pulse at his wrist. His eyes were closed but his nostrils flared a little with each breath. She heard Tau Haung shout something in Chinese and then she felt the ship beginning its turn so they could escape, hopefully before the Blazing Air wore off of Jones' men.

The pirates carried James into Sao Feng's Captain's cabin and carefully set the board down in a clean spot on the floor and then they left. Elizabeth sunk to her knees at his side, her throat tight and her lips trembling. What could she do for him? She was raised as a Governor's daughter, not as a doctor! She knew very little first aid and what she did know was no where equal to treating this type of wound! Had she rescued James just to watch him die? She gripped his hand tighter, her eyes starting to burn as tears threatened to spill out.

Sensing she was no longer alone, she glanced up to see the two twin Chinese girls standing side by side, looking down at her.

"Please, help me!" Elizabeth pleaded.

"Yes, we help." The girl on the right replied as she moved closer to Elizabeth, a folded colorful garment in her hands. "First you change."

"Change?" Elizabeth's eyes grew wide in shock and she shook her head in denial, cold drops of water spraying off the end of her drenched hair. "No, we don't have time for that! Can't you see, James is dying! We need to do something to save him! Do you have a doctor on board, a surgeon? Do you understand, a doctor? A healer?"

But the two Chinese girls reached down and gripped her by the arms and hauled her to her feet. Pulling her away slightly from James, they started to undress her with nimble fingers. Soon the soaking wet outfit was on the floor and they dried her off quickly, even rubbing most of the water out of her hair. Then she was redressed in a soft but colorful robe sporting a floral design and trimmed in sparkling gold threads. The material was quilted and she savored the new warmth that covered her skin. Elizabeth hadn't wanted to admit it, but she had been freezing in the wet outfit, her teeth on the verge of chattering. Only her worry for James had stopped her from seeking relief from the condition. It seemed paltry to worry about simply feeling cold when James had a sword through him.

And how was she to deal with that? Was it better to pull it out or would he bleed to death if she did that? But surely she couldn't leave it in, either! He would never heal that way. And the sword looked so dirty, crusted with all sorts of nasty grime and gunk from the Dutchman. The thing is she just didn't know what to do and she feared that the crew knew little English. Even Tai Huang, who knew more English than the others, spoke in clipped sentences. The stress of the situation was becoming unbearable, yet James' life rested in her hands. If he was going to survive this, it would be up to her to decide what was to be done and how. It was a lot to rest on her thin shoulders. She would need a level head. Crying and breaking down into an emotional heap would do James little good.

Taking a deep breath, Elizabeth tried to calm her jangled nerves. It helped a little, but not much as she could feel the panic waiting just in the shadows ready to overtake her. Trying to stay in control, she turned to the two girls. "Thank you. I do feel much better now. Do you have a doctor on board? A doc-tor? Do you understand; a healer?"

One of the girls pointed a finger at Elizabeth. "You heal."

"No, I don't know how!" Elizabeth cried in anguish, feeling as if she was getting nowhere due to the language barrier. "I don't know how! You have to help me or I might make it worst!"

"You use magic disk. It heals." One of the girls replied as she turned to survey the badly damaged room. The back wall was entirely shattered, sharp pieces of jagged boards poking out in dozens of directions. "But first we must find."

"A magic healing disk?" Elizabeth asked, the first ray of hope starting to fill her gloomy heart. Perhaps that was even better than a doctor? A doctor could make mistakes but surely magic couldn't, could it? But then her brown eyes swept over the condition of the room and her spirits sunk. It was a shambles! Most of the floor was littered with bits of busted board from where the cannonball had torn its way through to kill Sao Feng. She was surprised that his stiff, cold body was not still propped up against the wall where he had died. Someone apparently had the oversight to have it removed and she was thankful for that small kindness. She didn't need the dead eyes of a corpse staring at her while she tried to save her old friend from death. Still, if searching through the rubble was what it took, she would gladly do so. "What does it look like?"

"It large stone." One of the girls replied as she bent to start looking, picking up pieces of busted board to peer underneath. "It was in … box … there."

Elizabeth looked to where the girl pointed and sighed. Of course it had to have been where the cannonball ripped its way through the rear wall! But she wasted no time and started tossing boards and other bits of rubbish aside, carefully looking at each thing as she picked it up. Had the disk survived in one piece? She could only hope that it had, for apparently the ship had no real physician on board or perhaps he had been killed in the attack as well. There was no way to find out, as the twins seemed set on her healing James herself. The idea made her extremely nervous, as she just didn't have the knowledge to do that.

She was clearing a large area rapidly, working steadily in a weird bent over position. Many of the pieces were sharp and she had been jabbed several times by being careless, the jagged bits of wood stabbing her in her hands. The wounds were minor, little more than splinters really but each one hurt and she would instinctively jerk her hand away from the offending piece of wood. She didn't want to think what James must have felt the moment he was run through, for surely it was a thousand times worst than the little pricks she had just suffered. Could he survive until she found the disk? She was searching as quickly as she could, but she couldn't help feel the sand pouring through the hourglass. Surely he couldn't have much time left? How long could a person live while pierced by a sword? Did it go all of the way through him? Was blood leaking out from underneath him right now to form an unseen puddle? The thoughts alone were disturbing and Elizabeth tried to stop thinking them, but it wasn't easy. The fear was right there, a cold thing breathing on the back of her neck. Shivering, she forced her mind to the task at hand.

A particularly large board was right before her and she bent to carefully grab its edge. Straining, she struggled to push it upward, lifting with her knees as Will had once told her. Finally she felt it starting to move and she gave it a mighty heave, shoving it over the other way. The other side was lacquered, smooth and finished. Its appearance reminded her of an expensive piece of furniture, something her father might have had in his house and that gave her hope. Sao Feng would surely have kept his prize possessions in a chest of drawers or something similar. That might have been what the girl had meant by "box".

Underneath there was a pile of clothing and Elizabeth bent eagerly to dig through the stash. Near the bottom she found a black velvet drawstring bag about the size of her palm. Upon seeing it, a burst of excitement surged through her bloodstream and her heart pounded faster. Eagerly she reached for it, her fingers closing around it securely. Whatever was inside was heavy for its size and felt like a hard oval. Pulling at the drawstrings, she eagerly opened the little bag and spilled the contents into her other hand.

It was a rock, just like the Chinese girl had said.

"Is this it?" Elizabeth quickly asked as she showed the rock to one of the girls.

"Yes, that healing rock. Now you must prepare." The girl replied.

"And we must prepare him." The other girl stated as she turned to face James where he lay. "My name is Mei. She is Chai. She will fix tea for you now."

"I'm Elizabeth…" She stated as a sudden bout of nervousness suddenly overtook her. She could feel it bubbling in the pit of her stomach, like a bunch of pesky flies that wanted out. It was that word "prepare" that she didn't exactly like somehow, as that suggested dealing with that sword. Now that the time had finally come to deal with it, she wanted to postpone it somehow. The idea of reaching out and grabbing the hilt to pull it out….the very idea made a shiver pass down her spine right into her stomach. She wasn't normally meek, but what if a great geyser of blood sprayed out? What if removing it killed him?

"Come." Mei encouraged as she took Elizabeth by the hand and gently tugged her forward. "You help me prepare him now."

Elizabeth allowed herself to be lead forward until she was once again before James. His face was pale, but not as white as his powdered wig. She could see that his chest was still rising and falling, although a bit shallowly but that little movement gave her hope that he just might survive this after all, especially now that she had the magic rock. She also noted that there were no drops of blood on his lips or around his mouth, not yet anyway. Blood from the mouth was usually fatal, even she knew that. His mouth was open a bit, perhaps from pain or maybe he was breathing that way, she was uncertain.

"Belly wound." Mei stated as she pointed to the sword. "Slow death, many days."

For the first time Elizabeth looked to exactly where the sword had stabbed him and she saw that Mei was right: the sword was stuck through James' stomach. Before she had seen the sword and had been too upset to note the details, but now she felt as if she was in a weird trance and that she could look at it. She could just make out a dark stain against the bright gold of his Navy waistcoat where the sword entered his body.

Blood.

"He … he won't die right away?" She asked nervously as she clenched her empty hand over and over, unsure of what will happen next. Her other hand tightened around the magic rock until she could feel her tendons straining from the pressure.

"Many days…" Mei held up her hand, showing five fingers.

"Five days…" Elizabeth whispered to herself. Could she heal him in five days? The wound looked so awful and she didn't even know if she could really use this magic rock. She had experienced magic items before, of course. There had been the cursed Aztec medallion, Jack's magic compass and she had been to The Locker. But all had not been perfect. The medallion had brought her bad luck, the compass often did not work right or show her what she really wanted and the Locker, well, it had been bad. Would this rock be any different? Still, it was all she had to believe in and so she had to trust it. "What do we need to do?"

"First we do this." Mei reached out and pulled the sword out with one swift but smooth movement.

A cry escaped from Elizabeth's lips as the sword was removed and she leaped backward a bit, her hands flying to cover her mouth. She heard James moan and saw his eyelids flutter, but they stayed closed. And to her relief, no great spray of blood burst forth from the now empty hole that went deep into his body. That had been her biggest fear and she was now free of it. Still, she could not help but to stare at the gaping hole. She didn't want to look at it, yet she could not tear her eyes away, either. It was the most oddest sensation ever and she could feel herself becoming slightly queasy. But she could not afford to be sick, not now, and she swallowed, trying to force the uncomfortable feeling down.

"Now we undress him." Mei calmly stated. "You help."

"Undress…?" Elizabeth asked, her face suddenly growing hot. She had never done such a thing before in her life and it was considered improper, indecent. But she knew they needed to treat the wound and for that they needed to see it…

So undress him she would.

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

Singapore 2

It's no big deal…. Or so Elizabeth tried to tell herself. It's not like she'd never seen a shirtless man before, because she had. At least one of Barbossa's pirates had been shirtless or mostly so, like that big black man that had slapped her as soon she had came onto the Pearl that very first time. What had been his name? Elizabeth was unsure, except that he had been Barbossa's first mate. Still, undressing James just wasn't the same somehow. She had never seen him in anything less than full dress, complete with his navy frock coat. Of course, he had seen her in naught but her nightgown more than once! Somehow that didn't seem fair. Besides, James was dying. This was no time for her to worry about being proper!

Elizabeth knelt down next to James and reached out towards him, dismayed to see how her hand was trembling. She had thought herself sturdier than this, but then she had never had such a heavy burden placed on her thin shoulders and doubt kept sneaking into her thoughts. Steeling her courage, her lips formed a severe pale line across her pretty face. She was a Pirate Lord now and she would do this without fainting like one of the weak women back at Port Royale. Her hand steadied and she quickly untied his cravat from around his neck, gently pulling the long length of white cloth free and setting it aside.

Pausing a moment, she pondered on how best to get his frock coat off without disturbing the wound too much. Mei had already untied the ropes that had held him in place on the carrying board, so perhaps if one of them lifted him somewhat they could get the jacket off?

"I lift.." Mei stated as she quickly moved to stand near James' head. Bending, she gripped him and lifted his upper body up.

Elizabeth found it a bit awkward pulling his coat off, as it was not as easy as she had thought. He was unconscious and of no help at all and that made it much more difficult somehow. She bit her lip as she pulled one sleeve free of his arm, scared that every movement would send pain shooting through him. Still, she was thankful now for the task as it helped her thoughts to keep her hands busy. Moving to his other side, she freed the other arm and sighed with relief that the frock coat was now off. She folded it neatly and set it aside on the floor of the cabin atop the cravat. Bending over, she undid his golden belt and pulled it free. It, too, joined the growing pile of clothing.

Next was his golden waistcoat. This had a lot of buttons going down the front so she knelt again as she started undoing them. The upper ones were easy, but as she grew closer to the wound the buttons were not so clean anymore. In fact, they were wet and sticky. Elizabeth frowned as the wet blood got onto her fingers, causing her stomach to lurch unpleasantly.

It is just blood…it cannot hurt me.

But her stomach didn't seem to be listening.

No one had ever mentioned this sort of thing when being a pirate. Oh, she knew it was dangerous, of course. She wasn't an idiot. She was on the hanging list, was she not? But hanging was a clean death, more or less. There really wasn't any blood involved. And she knew people could get killed in fights or drown at sea or get blasted apart by a cannon, but it had never been anyone she had known personally. This was different and it cut her to the core.

No one had said how the waistcoat would stick, either…

Elizabeth bit her bottom lip as she found herself pulling on the waistcoat gently, trying to free it from the wound where it had gotten stuck thanks to the blood. James moaned and she felt a fresh rush of guilt go through her as well as a weird shiver down her spine. The shiver caused her to shudder uncontrollably for a few seconds, as if a cold gust of air had blown across her back. She knew peeling the clothing free must be painful but what else could she do? Logically, it would be better to do it now than later, after it had dried somewhat. She pulled more and finally the last bit came free and then she had to deal with the gummy buttons. Pushing these through the holes was a lot harder but she gritted her teeth and undid each one. By then her hands were a real mess, stained with drying blood. Mei lifted him again and she managed to pull the waistcoat off of him, getting fresh stains on it from her dirty hands in the process.

Then there was just his white shirt and she set to work on that without thinking too much. Button after button came free and slowly his expanse of chest appeared. She knew she was coming upon the wound itself now and she started to grow nervous. Would it look truly horrible? Would things … inside be visible and if so, would she be able to stand the sight?

Had James ever seen things like this? She figured he must have. How did he stand it without getting sick? Or was that what the emotionless attitude was for, why he hid his feelings most of the time? He had been more open during his brief stint as a pirate on the Pearl and hadn't been so concerned with being proper. She could have spent more time with him then, but at the moment she had been only interested in Will.

But of course, that had fallen apart and they had felt they couldn't trust each other anymore.

That had been a sad moment.

But she could always trust James, couldn't she? He had come through for her, putting her before his duty. She knew it must have been hard for him to do that, to throw away his new commission as Admiral. And not just his commission but his life. He would have hung for setting them free, for associating with pirates.

He had been willing to die for her.

If that didn't prove his love than what would? Yes, he loved her all right even if he didn't always show it openly as Will had done.

And now she had to save him.

She glanced down to realize she had run out of buttons to open. Holding her breath, she slowly peeled back the two portions of his blood-stained shirt to reveal his bare chest and stomach. She didn't think she could stomach looking directly at the wound, but she did somehow. It was probably better to get that part over with so she could concentrate on healing him or that's what she told herself anyway. The wound itself was an angry dark slash against his pale skin, the width of the sword blade. Thankfully she didn't see anything ghastly poking out of it nor could she see too deeply inside. Mainly it was just a dark reddish-black hole, the skin around the edges looking a bit jagged. Still, just seeing it was making her queasy and she forced her eyes away, swallowing rapidly in an attempt to keep herself from getting sick.

"Remove shirt…" Mei reminded her.

"Yes, all right." Elizabeth replied as she forced herself back into action, pulling the stained garment off of James' arms one at a time. The shirt was probably ruined beyond all saving, as blood was the devil to get out and then there was the sword hole. Still, she tossed it away into a corner to deal with later. She stood still for a moment, breathing in the fresh air that was blowing in from the gaping hole in the back of the captain's cabin. It lifted her now almost-dry hair off of her shoulders, the light brown tresses blowing in the breeze. They would have to seal the hole later somehow so James could stay warm…but she found it refreshing as it helped calm her stomach now.

After a moment, she turned to look at Mei and was surprised to see the Chinese woman with a hand full of colored crystals. Each one was small, no larger than her fingernail but brilliantly colored. As she watched, Mei started to carefully place each tiny crystal on James: a red one near the groin, an orange one by the belly button, a yellow one just under the breasts, a green one in the center of the chest, a light blue one on his throat, a purple one on his forehead and a white one at the top of his head after she had removed the white powdered wig. Unlike when James had been a pirate and had longish hair, his hair was now cut extremely short.

Staring at the line of colored crystals, Elizabeth realized she had no idea what was going on at all. She felt lost and confused, totally out of her element. She knew ships, she knew pirates and she knew how to be a governor's daughter, but this was totally foreign to her. "Is that going to help heal him?"

"Yes. These power points in body." Mei explained as she pointed at each one in turn starting with the lowest. "Root, Spleen, Solar, Heart, Throat, Third Eye, Crown. These help heal."

"So what do we do next?" Elizabeth asked, unsure what was going on. How could she heal him if she didn't understand how it worked or what to do? She had thought just the magic rock was needed, but apparently there was more than that involved.

"You clean hands." Mei replied as she stood and brought over a bowl of clear water. It was a miracle it had survived the cannon fire but somehow it did.

Elizabeth raised her hands and was somewhat shocked to see they were reddish, the skin feeling abnormally tight. Every little crease in her skin was plainly visible thanks to the dried blood and it was under her fingernails, too. Suddenly she couldn't wait to scrub it off and eagerly sunk her filthy hands into the large bowl. Rubbing her hands together, she saw the once clear water starting to turn red. Soon the water was as bright red as a ripe cherry and she gave up. Her hands were clean enough, she supposed, and doubted if the water could hold any more.

Chai appeared then, carrying a fancy silver tray with an exquisite China teapot and matching tea cups on saucers. The Chinese girl set the tray onto the floor near James and motioned for Elizabeth to sit. "Now you drink special tea."

Following the instructions, Elizabeth sat down on the floor facing James, her legs folded up. She was about even with the wound but she tried hard to not look at it directly, as she had to drink tea now and didn't want to get sick. Still, she could see the dark slash in her peripheral vision. "What is the tea going to do? If it's a healing tea, shouldn't he drink it and not me?"

"You drink." Chai insisted as she handed Elizabeth the cup of hot tea.

Elizabeth accepted it, staring into the black liquid. She had drunk tea before, of course. All English people drank tea and in Port Royal it had grown very expensive due to the import fees. But this tea, this was clearly not what she was used to drinking, for it was a rich India ink blackness and had an unusual odor. Taking a small sip, she was startled at the bitter flavor that exploded across her tongue. She glanced over the rim of the cup at the two Chinese twins to see them conferring with each other, their heads pressed close together. They were speaking in their own language and she hadn't the foggiest idea of what they might be saying. Hopefully they were figuring out how to best explain the proper way to use the magic healing rock.

The tea warmed her insides, which she welcomed. Truth be told, she was beginning to feel cold again. Maybe that was because full night had fallen and cold air was blowing in through the gaping hole behind her. A moment ago the breeze had felt good but now it was freezing. She upended the cup and was startled to find it was empty already. Setting it down, she glanced at the two women. "Now what do I do?"

"Hold magic stone." Chai instructed as she, too, sat on the floor but on the other side of James.

Elizabeth glanced around, fearing for a moment she had lost it but soon spotted it nearby. Reaching for it, she picked it up and held it in both hands. Truth be told, she was beginning to feel a bit odd…

"Now close your eyes and look here." Chai pointed at her own forehead, her finger tapping right in the center.

"But how can I look at your forehead if I close my eyes?" Elizabeth asked as she tried to ignore the strange, light-headed feeling that was starting to coarse through her. She had felt this way once before, when she had stayed up all night reading a forbidden book on pirates by candlelight. By the next day she was so tired that she was woozy in the head. She had just been a young child then and her father had feared she had caught some dread tropical illness, but then had found the dropped book on the floor. He had been both relieved and annoyed, as he just couldn't understand why she loved pirates so much. Why couldn't she be like other girls, concerned with dresses and such?

"No, your head." Chai corrected, pointing the finger at Elizabeth's head.

"You want me to look at my own forehead?" Elizabeth asked, truly shocked. "Is that even possible?"

Chai made a frustrated noise, clearly being blocked by the language problem. She and Mei spoke to each other in rapid Chinese, their hands flying about in the air. Finally they reached some agreement as the talk ended.

"Close eyes." Mei instructed in a soft voice.

Elizabeth closed her eyes, wondering exactly what was in the tea she had drunk. Normal tea didn't make you feel like this. Had it been some sort of drug? The rock was warm between her two hands but it now offered little comfort, as the doubt in her was growing. What if she couldn't do this, whatever it was? The instructions made little sense.

"Now stare into darkness." Mei simply stated.

Well, that seemed easy enough and Elizabeth stared into the darkness inside her closed eyes. At first she saw only blackness, as she always did before drifting off to sleep at night. But then to her amazement a tiny speck of light appeared. Where had it come from? She could feel her lashes on the tender skin just below her eyes so she knew her eyes were indeed closed. Yet there was a dot of light? Soon a second tiny spot joined it and another and then another! Before she knew it, there were a whole bunch of little dots of light floating in the blackness of her closed eyes. They seemed to be swirling around in a circle, moving at a steady pace.

"You see lights?" Mei asked.

"Yes! I see them!" Elizabeth cried, happy now that whatever it was, it was working. She tried to focus her eyes on the swirling shape and like magic it shifted right to the center of the blackness before her. She quickly found out she had to concentrate on it or else it tended to slide off to one side or the other. She could feel unaccustomed strain on her eye muscles but tried to ignore it. If this was what was needed to save James, then she would do it.

"Move towards them."

Elizabeth frowned slightly, unsure exactly how to do it. The lights were there, in the blackness of her closed eyelids, but how could she move towards them? To her amazement, the lights were now slowly taking on colors instead of being just white stars in the night sky. First red appeared, then orange and yellow. The colors reminded her of the odd little crystals that Mei had placed on James' body. Soon the greens, blues and purple were there, too.

"Think closer…" Chai offered. "It tunnel."

"A tunnel?" Elizabeth asked, surprised. The lights did not look like a tunnel to her. It was more like a swirling round ball, but then the more she stared at it, the more it seemed to change. But no matter what it reminded her of, it was constantly swirling around in a steady and constant motion. Recalling the instruction, Elizabeth willed the swirling shape to come closer. Part of her doubted if it would actually do that, as just thinking it seemed too easy, but to her amazement it did seem to come closer. Encouraged by her somewhat success, she willed it closer again. Now the swirling rainbow lights were right before her, filling her vision and she could see it was indeed a tunnel. The walls were made of the swirling lights and there was a dark speck at the other end. "I see the tunnel…"

"Now go in." Chai spoke.

Beginning to understand how things worked, Elizabeth willed herself to go through the tunnel. The rainbow lights zipped past and soon she came up upon the exit. Excited that the odd Singapore magic was working, she zoomed right out the other end without pause. She would heal James and then it all would be OK.

Although she had no idea what to expect at the other end of the tunnel, what she found was not what she had expected at all. To her utter shock, she was back in the captain's cabin with Chai, Mei and James. Disappointment flooded her body and she was about to say something to the Chinese girls about it not working when something made her turn around.

And that's when she saw herself, sitting on the floor with eyes closed.

And then she screamed.

TBC…


	3. Chapter 3

Singapore 3

Elizabeth's shock and fear had automatically forced her back into her own body and her eyes flew open as her body jerked roughly. Her calm demeanor of a moment ago was replaced with a racing heart and sweating palms. She felt nervous and jumpy and was unsure what she should do. The rock in her hands was forgotten even though she gripped it with white knuckles.

Her soul had left her body!

The two Chinese Twins were sitting there as calmly as ever, looking at her. Why hadn't they told her that would happen? Or didn't they know? Had there been a mistake of some sort, had she done it wrong?

"You were in air?" Chai finally asked in her soft voice. "You saw us, here?"

Elizabeth silently nodded, too frightened to speak at the moment. Not even going over the waterfall at World's End had been that frightening or shocking. She could have died!

"Good." Chai nodded in approval. "You on track to heal him."

"But I almost died!" Elizabeth finally blurted out, brown eyes wide in fear. "I was hovering in the air, out of my body! I could have just floated away!"

To her utter amazement, Chai chuckled. "You no die. You connect body with silver cord. Cord like rigging, very long."

"It's not funny!" Elizabeth protested hotly, annoyed that the Chinese girl thought her reaction was humorous. There was nothing funny about it at all and the experience had truly scared her. Perhaps if they had warned her what was going to happen, it wouldn't have been so scary but they hadn't, neither of them. "If you know how to do this, then why don't you heal him? Wouldn't it be easier and faster that way? I don't even know what I'm doing or how I'm supposed to heal him…"

"We no can heal him." Chai simply stated.

"Why not?" Elizabeth demanded in a firm voice. "You know how it's done, don't you. It sounds like you've healed people before?"

"Yes, many others." Chai nodded in agreement. "But I cannot heal him. Only you can."

"Why?" Elizabeth asked, wanting to get to the heart of the issue. "Is it because he's not a pirate?"

"No. You cursed." Chai stated as if curses were ordinary facts, like that the sun rose each morning or that grass was green. "You kiss man, he die. Only you can remove death on him."

Elizabeth gawked at Chai with an open mouth, totally unprepared for the words. She had been feeling guilty for James' injury, that was true, but to say that she was cursed! She was about to make some remark to deny the accusation when she recalled kissing Jack. Hadn't the kraken eaten him soon after? And then there was Sao Feng. He had tried to force himself on her, pressing her up against the wall and forcing his lips onto her own mouth in a kiss. She had struggled against his advances but he had been too strong and they had kissed. Right after that the cannon ball had come along and had killed him.

Could it be true? Was she really cursed as Chai had said? But surely that couldn't be right…! She clearly remembered kissing Will on the beach on that island, the one where they had dug up the Heart of Davy Jones. Will had come up out of the sea like a miracle, no other ship in sight and she had dashed into his soaking wet arms. He hadn't died then…but everyone after that had.

Why?

She had no idea.

"Are you saying any man I kiss will die?" Elizabeth asked, scared of the answer that Chai might give. What if her reply was affirmative? What would she do then? How could she ever get married as she wanted to, whether it is to Will or James or even someone else? She certainly didn't want to spend her entire life alone!

"Yes. You cursed."

"But…!" Elizabeth exclaimed, horrified with one hand raised to her mouth. "I didn't mean for James to get hurt! I didn't mean for any of them to get hurt or die! Why is this happening to me? Who cursed me and how do I remove it?"

"I know not. I only see the curse on you." Chai gazed at her steadily, a sad expression on her face. "Clearly someone with power. You anger someone maybe?"

"You mean like Davy Jones?" Elizabeth asked, clearly confused. What exactly did Chai mean with power? Her father had had possessed power as Governor but he certainly couldn't curse anyone. And then there was Lord Beckett, but he had no magic, either, just lots of authority. And Calypso was on their side, so it couldn't be her.

"Jones no have that power…"

"Well, who then?" Elizabeth asked, totally stumped now. She thought back and really couldn't name anyone else who she might have made angry. Besides, it would have to have been before Jack was eaten by the kraken. Who was there on the island with her? Jack, Will, James and Jones' freakish fishmen. None of them had the ability, either.

But what about someone like Chai? She clearly possessed power, did she not? She knew exactly how to do this mystical healing thing, which wasn't exactly normal. Yet she looked perfectly normal? Yes, she did yet she could guide her right out of her own body! How many other people looked normal but in fact weren't? And is Tia Dalma was really the goddess Calypso than didn't that mean there were other gods and goddesses as well? Elizabeth sighed as she realized it was a hopeless mess, one she might never solve.

"I do not know." Chai answered truthfully. "I only see the curse around you. It be black mark in your aura."

"Well, maybe if I ask Tia Dalma she'll tell me the answer." Elizabeth knew that was her only hope, providing that the woman would tell her. Technically, Tia Dalma didn't have to tell her anything. But what other hope did she have to go on?

Elizabeth's eyes shifted to James and she felt guilty then. Here he lay dying and she was worried about a curse! What if Mei was wrong about the amount of time he had left, what if it was mere hours instead of days? She should be using the time wisely instead of wasting it away sitting here, especially since this whole thing was her fault. She needed to get the healing back on track…but could she do it again, knowing full well she would leave her body like that? The idea was frightening. And she couldn't help think she might get trapped somehow outside her body…

Still, she took a deep breath and asked her next question. "So with the healing… Once I'm out here, out of my body, what do I do then?"

"You heal him." Chai replied as if it was just common sense.

"Yes, but how?"

"You move energy. Think the wound healed." The Chinese woman explained as she waved her hand in the air. "Energy around us. Here. There. Everywhere. It enter us by head and be white light."

Elizabeth's eyes flickered to the white crystal that sat at the top of James' head. "So I channel this energy through my body to heal him?"

"Yes, you do that."

Her eyes moved to the ugly gash in his stomach. Could this mysterious power really heal such an awful wound? It seemed far-fetched to her, as far-fetched as the curse. But it was the only chance she had to save him. They said that faith could move mountains, well, maybe if she had enough faith in this magic ability it might actually work?

"All right…can we try it again?" Elizabeth asked even though a part of her was scared of what would happen once she went through that tunnel. What if she freaked out again? She would have to control her fear…

"You need to be calm…" Chai informed her. "Relax."

"Let fears go…" Mei added. "Quiet mind."

Could she really do it, silence all of the thoughts racing around in her head? The cup of tea had helped greatly the first time but now she noticed all too clearly they were not offering her another. Was the first cup still working inside of her or had her anxiety burned it all off? Nor had she ever really meditated before. It had seemed too boring. Even when she had been a proper daughter and working on her needlework her mind had been far away, off on some imaginary pirate adventure based off of the books she had got her little hands on. Still, for James' sake she would have to learn how.

Elizabeth sat on the floor with her legs folded and eyes closed, waiting for her heart beat to slow down. It was not thumping as quickly as it had earlier, but she could still feel it beating in her chest. She told herself to think of nothing at all, but some stray thought would flicker through her mind from nowhere: what would happen at Shipwreck Cove, how she would explain all of this to James if he survived and of course, if it would really work.

Truth be told, it was hard for her to believe, even if she had seen cursed pirates that turned into skeletons and freaky fishmen. The mind couldn't really heal the body, could it? She tried to erase the doubt that lingered, to believe like Mei and Chai did, but it was just a huge thing to accept. And if it did work, if injuries could be cured by mere thought, then why the need for doctors and medicine … or was that just for profit?

Lord Beckett certainly enjoyed profiting at other's expense with his East India Trading Company. The prices in Port Royal were going higher and higher, many of the people being forced to go either without certain items or buying local equivalents. For example, some plants grew in Jamaica that the natives brewed for tea and some of the British took to drinking that instead of the expensive imports. A few claimed it even tasted better…

Frowning, Elizabeth realized she was getting off track and once again cleared her mind of thoughts. She would only think of the spinning lights she had seen and hoped that maybe they would appear again. The blackness inside her eyelids greeted her and she waited a bit impatiently, her fingers gripping the magic rock. As soon as her mind started to ask if the rock really was magic, she forced the stray thought out. Minutes passed by slowly as she waited. After awhile she began to grow sleepy. The hour was late and it had been a very trying day. She felt her fingers loosen around the rock slightly and she resisted the urge to yawn. But the good thing was she was relaxed.

The darkness she stared into seemed to waver, as if it was moving ever so slightly or if it was not exactly the same shade of black everywhere. It shimmered, like a wave of heat rising from the stifling cobblestones on a mid-summer day. She could clearly see variations in shades of black now and then a red splotch appeared from nowhere. The brilliant color surprised her, as she hadn't expected it at all. A waving green ribbon was seen next, the green the shade of a fresh lime from the tree in her father's backyard. Elizabeth had no idea she could see all of these colors with her eyes closed, as she had never experienced anything like this before.

And then the specks of light appeared in the center of her vision. This time they were like a round ball that was rotating in a clockwise direction. Instantly she focused her eyes on it, willing it to come closer. She could feel her eyes moving under the closed lids, a strange sensation. But instead of obeying her this time the ball stayed where it was and kept spinning at the same slow pace. Frowning slightly, she tried to get it to come closer once again, focusing her eyes on the very center of the orb. She kept her focus there and slowly the ball shifted into the familiar tunnel. She then focused her eyes on the far-away exit and tried to will herself to travel through the tunnel. After several attempts, she finally found herself zooming through it. Everything was harder now and she was unsure why. The first time it had been so easy but she had stupidly wasted it and she regretted that now. Knowing what was coming ahead, she prepared herself for it as best as she could. She couldn't allow herself to get scared as she had done that first time. The way things were hard to control, she seriously doubted if a third attempt would be possible.

Finally Elizabeth popped out into the air and found herself hovering there. It was a strange feeling and she took a deep breath to calm herself. She recalled the instructions and hoped they would work and that she had the ability to do this.

This will work…

It had to.

James had always been kind to her if a bit formal and how had she repaid him? First she had humiliated him in public by choosing a blacksmith over him and then she had ruined his life. Because of the humiliation and her cool rejection, he had been careless enough to sail through a hurricane and wrecked his ship. It had been a suicidal move and he had been doing it again in the pub in Tortuga, trying to take on a roomful of pirates while drunk. She had arrived just in time to save him, of course, and had picked him up out of the mud. He didn't deserve any of it and he had treated her better than Will ever had. It's too bad she hadn't realized it sooner…

But she hadn't. She had been blinded by Will's dashing good looks and his lovely brown eyes, which could look very mesmerizing. And then there had been that pirate medallion and his pirate blood. That had sealed it.

But pirates made the worst husbands and lousy fathers.

Will's pirate blood had run true and he had disappeared on his own insane quest to save the man he called father, a man who had never cared for him at all and was insane to boot! Their relationship was all but forgot and abandoned. Elizabeth sighed in relief. It was better she found out now about Will than after she had married him. She wouldn't want to be stuck with a house full of kids and a husband who is gone all of the time pirating, possibly for years. Hadn't Will admitted he had only seen his father like two or three times as a child, the visits years apart? That was not a husband or a father in her mind.

Jack had done the proper thing and had never married. Neither had Barbossa, he was just as single as the other pirates she knew. Pirates weren't just suited for the family life.

Why hadn't she realized that before?

Elizabeth snapped out of her reverie and got down to the business at hand. She frowned slightly, unsure exactly how to do this. First she decided she needed to be closer to James instead of hovering here in the air, so she tried to float downward. To her relief, she did move down until she was level with him. Reaching out with her hand, she moved it towards the nasty gash in his stomach. Since she was spirit now and not flesh, she reckoned she could touch the injury without causing him pain or making it dirty.

She imagined a white beam of light shining on her head and going into her body, down her arm and into James wound. This part was not as easy, though. She had to believe that the beam was there and try to make it real, as real as can be. Focusing her mind, she concentrated more on the beam, imagining at a sparkling column as white as the caps on the waves. The more she concentrated on the image, the clearer it became. A slight tingling spread through her and down her arm into her hand. At the sensation, Elizabeth's hopes rose skyward and she renewed her efforts.

The wound will close…the wound will close…

She imagined the skin knitting itself back together, the wound vanishing as if it had never existed before. She pressed her hand more firmly over the gash, willing the healing power to do as she bid it. Oddly enough, even though her hand was immaterial in this form or so she thought it was, she felt heat rising up against her palm. She closed her eyes tightly and imagined James' stomach whole and unblemished, the skin perfect.

Slowly she opened her eyes and hesitantly lifted her hand from his gently rising and falling belly, half afraid of what she might see. To her utter shock and surprise, the gash was gone just as she had imagined it was. The startlement was so great that she was instantly yanked back into her body and her brown eyes flew open, fearing she had imagined it after all. Her gaze flew to him and her mouth dropped open in utter amazement.

The angry wound really was gone!

"It really worked!" Elizabeth whispered in awe. "I really didn't think it would, but I had hoped it might…."

"You not done yet…" Chai informed her. "But it good start."

TBC…


	4. Chapter 4

Singapore 4

"But isn't he healed now?" Elizabeth asked, confused by the Chinese woman's words. She had been so happy that she had managed to do the impossible, to heal him, and now that mood was spoiled by those eight short words.

"Healing be … complex. No fast, easy." Chai explained with a wave of her pale hand. "We do more tomorrow. You sleep now."

Elizabeth watched as the two Chinese Twins rose to their feet smoothly, one of them collecting the empty tea cup, tray and the colored crystals. Then without a further word, the two left the captain's cabin and vanished from sight. Alone with James now, she sat still for a moment staring at the empty doorway. Then the cold breeze blowing against her back brought her to reality. She would have to do something about that, now. Stifling a yawn, for the healing seemed to have taken a lot out of her; she slowly rose to her feet and turned to study the problem. Even in just the light from the flickering lanterns, she could see how big the hole was and she had no idea how it could possibly be patched. But it was clear she couldn't leave it like that, not with James injured. It was letting in way too much cold air and he would freeze.

Recalling the pile of Sao Feng's clothes she had pawed through to find the magic rock, she went over to them and scooped them up into her arms. Dumping them onto the floor near James, she spread each piece over his body in an attempt to keep him warm. It was nowhere near perfect, but for the moment it would have to do.

Then she turned and walked out onto deck. The air was much cooler out here and she wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to keep warm. The night sky was clear and was ablaze with thousands of twinkling stars. Elizabeth stared up at them for a long moment, thinking they looked very much like the swirling dots of light she saw behind her closed eye lids. Were the specks of light inside her eyelids really stars or were they something else entirely? Besides, how could she see anything with her eyes closed? She wished that Mei and Chai knew better English so she could ask her questions and get better answers, not the short sentences they were using.

Looking around, she spotted an Asian man on watch and approached him, hoping he knew English. He heard her coming, even though she trod the deck lightly, and turned to face her, doing an odd little bow to show respect. "I need my cabin fixed. Now."

He shrugged to show he had no idea what she had said.

Elizabeth sighed. She had half expected this problem and so she waved her fingers in a "come with me" motion, hoping he would understand that. He seemed to get the idea and followed her into the cabin, where she pointed at the gaping hole. She watched realization dawn in his dark eyes and he nodded, running off to shout some strange words in whatever language he spoke. Within moments rough looking Asian pirates swarmed the area at the back of the cabin and they covered the hole with a folded piece of sail. They did their little bows to her and then fled back to wherever they had been before she had disturbed them. It wasn't perfect but it blocked the wind and made the room more livable.

Yawning loudly and really feeling the exhaustion now, Elizabeth lowered herself to the floor next to James. She inched closer, suddenly feeling shy about what she was going to do. It was odd, really, as generally she had no problem speaking her mind or breaking rules. Perhaps it was because she thought her father would not approve? He had always stressed the fact that she was to get married before she did anything with a man and that certainly included sleeping with him. But James was unconscious and she needed to keep him warm. Surely her father would understand? It wasn't like she had a choice, really. She had never noticed it before, but the lack of a fireplace or any heating element was very obvious at the moment. How did sailors keep themselves warm in these cold waters?

Elizabeth inched closer, rolling over onto her side so that she was facing him. She shifted about until she was right up against his side and carefully placed her arm across his wide chest, her head near his shoulder. It was very intimate and the most forbidden thing she had ever done in a way and she had no idea how she would explain it to James should he suddenly wake up. She would tell him the truth, of course, but what would he think of her? What if he got the wrong idea? She tried to push the worries out of her mind and thought she never would be able to, but her sleepiness took care of it. Her anxieties about the improperness of it all were soon forgotten and she snuggled closer to him, her head finding its way to his shoulder.

Hmmmm….this is nice…

The stray thought floated through her brain and she realized it was true. It was almost like a little preview of what being married to James would be like, but of course it wouldn't be so easy. But she was too far gone to worry about the future now. It would wait for another day.

And just like that she fell asleep.

Her dreams were jumbled and made no sense, bits from here and there mixing together in a confused mess. She was on a ship, sailing and they came upon the waterfall at World's End to only end up in Tia Dalma's hut in the tropical swamp. Even asleep Elizabeth sensed the wrongness of it and instantly realized she was dreaming, something she had never known before. The nature of the dream changed then and she found herself more in control somehow.

The dream grew more peaceful then with her sailing aboard the Pearl. She stood at the railing, her hair blowing in the warm breeze. The simple sensation felt good. She turned and found James at her side. Not the scruffy downtrodden James she had rescued in Tortuga or the stiff upper lip Commodore, but something in between. His powdered wig was gone, replaced by his real brown hair that was now long and tied in a neat ponytail with a black ribbon. He wore a white shirt similar to his now ruined navy shirt, a waistcoat over it. The confidence was still there in his green eyes and his posture, but he seemed more relaxed as well. She knew his words would come more carefree instead of the formal address, which she of course preferred. It was very hard to get to know someone if they were formal and aloof all of the time.

But was this a mere fantasy or could it be reality?

James had spent a good portion of his life chasing and hanging pirates. He had stooped to piracy of a sort once, stealing Davy Jones' Heart from Jack, but that had been to get his old life back. But then he had chosen death on the Dutchman instead of coming with her onto the Empress.

He just couldn't accept being a pirate.

That and he was suicidal to boot. He had shown her that on more than one occasion. And if it weren't for the magic stone and the Chinese Twin's knowledge, he would be dead.

The dream Elizabeth dismissed her worries and wrapped her arms around James' waist, her head resting against his firm chest. For now she would enjoy the dream as reality would come soon enough and the problems with it.

The dream faded away as she drifted off into a deeper sleep. Time passed without her knowing it and hours later she woke up. She blinked her eyes sleepily, not really aware of where she was yet. Her fingers moved across a warm and slightly hairy surface, a surface that moved up and down steadily and that felt suspiciously like skin. Then the memories of the previous day came flooding back into her mind with a sudden rush and her brown eyes flew wide open.

Her gaze fell on a green pair of eyes that was watching her intently.

Bloody pirates! James had caught her sleeping with him! That healing rock must have worked better than she had thought, as he was clearly awake. Of course, she was thankful that he was recovering from the awful wound, but couldn't he have waited a few more minutes to wake up so she could put a proper distance between them? No, of course not: he was probably used to waking up with the first light from being in the Navy while she preferred sleeping late.

She felt the heat rise up into her face and she yanked her hand off of his bare chest, even though she had secretly enjoyed touching it just now. She sat up, trying to ignore her embarrassment as best she could. Her body felt incredibly stiff, most likely from sleeping on the hard floor. She rubbed at her right arm, the one she had against the floor, and tried to get the feeling back into it again. Worst yet, the numerous coverings she had piled on top of him had fallen off during the night and she could see his bare chest again. "Are you feeling better?"

"Would you care to explain the situation?" James asked as his green eyes never left hers. She could see confusion in them as well as something else. And were the corners of his mouth turned up just a bit? Did he find the circumstances humorous? "Shouldn't I be … dead?"

"We rescued you off of the Dutchman." Elizabeth explained as she tried to talk off her nervousness. She was sure he would not approve of their nap together, even if it had been done for noble reasons like keeping him alive. "We're on the Empress, sailing towards Shipwreck Cove. I'm not sure when we'll reach it exactly…anyway, there are two Chinese women on the ship and they helped me heal you."

"Elizabeth, I was run through…I really doubt if that sort of wound can be healed…" James informed her as the horrible memory passed through his mind. "Such wounds are always fatal."

"Well, you're not dying." Elizabeth boldly stuck out her hand and laid it on his bare stomach in the spot where the ugly gash used to be. Her fingers met smooth skin and a part of her was still amazed that she was the one that had healed him like this. "See? The wound is gone."

"Gone?" James lifted his head and stared down across the wide expanse of his chest to where her hand rested on his bare belly. At the sight of the undamaged skin, his mouth dropped open in utter shock. "How is this possible?"

"Oh, there's some magic rock…" Elizabeth explained as she realized that she was unsure how much to voice to him. What would he think of the strange stuff? Even she was unsure what to think of it truthfully, she was just grateful that it worked. "Chai and Mei told me how to use it and I healed you, but you probably shouldn't move around too much as they said you're not totally healed yet."

"You healed me?" James voice had an odd tone to it, as if he couldn't believe her words.

"Yes. I know it's hard to believe. I have a hard time accepting it, too." Elizabeth admitted as she slowly pulled her hand off of his stomach, her fingernails gently scraping across his skin. She thought she saw his muscles tremor a little at the touch, but surely it was her imagination. "We had to remove your shirt and stuff to heal you, of course. And well, it was freezing in here last night and there's no fireplace…"

"I wouldn't mind waking up like this every day, truthfully…" James admitted as the corners of his mouth turned up a bit more and there was a twinkle in his green eyes. "Perhaps I should get sick more often…"

Was he teasing her or flirting? James? She couldn't believe it! Did he receive a conk on the head as well? No matter the cause, his words made her blush. And it was becoming pretty obvious he was not the cool, unemotional statue she had mistaken him for before all of this trouble started. He clearly had feelings hidden behind that cool formal mask he usually wore and now for whatever reason he was letting some of them out. Maybe he felt more relaxed because of the intimate setting?

"I'm a Pirate Lord now, you know…" She informed him, her chin sticking up in the air slightly. She didn't have any choice in the matter. It was life or death and she didn't want to die. And now, like it or not, James was with them. She didn't know if he could accept being a pirate though. He had tried it once before and had quit, running back to the life he knew.

"Yes, I suppose you are." James replied sounding a bit sad, but then seemed to brighten. "But you've never actually gone pirating, on a raid, have you? This has been forced on you."

"No, of course not, I'm just trying to stay alive." Elizabeth thought back to her ill fated wedding day and how Will had appeared in manacles and chains, how the warrants had been read out. She had been shocked, of course. And since that day she had been running, trying to stay one step ahead of the law and Lord Beckett. "But some pirates are good people."

James smiled at her words, as if he was humoring her and knew that it wasn't really true. "You still think Sparrow is a good man, even after he lied to you?"

"Jack sacrificed himself so we could get away from the kraken. Otherwise all of us would have been killed that day. He did the noble and heroic thing, going down with his ship." Elizabeth's brown eyes flashed as she defended Jack. She felt a little bit guilty about leaving out the part she had played in that, but that was in the past. They had gone to the Locker and had rescued Jack. All was well again.

"Sparrow did that?"

"Yes, he did. And then we went to the Locker to rescue him."

One dark brow rose. "The Locker?"

"Yes, it's a real place and I've been there." Elizabeth watched James face, pondering if he believed her or not. "It's where I saw my father and so I know he's dead."

"I am truly sorry about that. I did not know." James repeated his words of earlier, his face showing sorrow. "I had not thought that Lord Beckett would lie to me, but serving the east India Trading Company is not the Navy I had loved. I should have suspected that he was dirty after all of the people he had hung, including mere children."

"Yes, he is just awful and only cares about profit." Elizabeth really hated that the man had stolen her father away from her. Her father had been a good man, a just and fare governor. He didn't deserve to die like that. Just thinking about it made her eyes mist and she sniffed. "You're the only one I have now…"

"But…" A confused expression appeared on his face. "What about Turner?"

"Will and I grew apart." She admitted as she gazed down at the floor, spotting the magic rock and picking it up. "He only cares about rescuing his father and has forgotten me."

"But what of his promise to care and devote his life to you?" James recalled the remark he had made to Turner very clearly and how the younger man had agreed. It was one of the reasons he had stepped on the side, so Elizabeth could be happy. He had put her happiness above his own, even if it had left him depressed, heartbroken and suicidal. And now to hear that Turner had broken his promise so carelessly, it truly angered him.

"It seems words come cheaply when you have pirate blood." She exclaimed as she turned the rock around in her hands. It looked like an ordinary rock, one that had the little sparkles inside it, but ordinary still the same. She had seen others like it before. How could it have such powers?

Elizabeth squeaked in surprise as James wrapped his arms about her and suddenly pulled her down alongside him. It must have pained him to sit up like that and grab her, for the area around his lips was white and his breathing was a bit off, faster. "I will not leave you, Elizabeth. I promise."

"Even if I'm a pirate?"

"Even if you're a pirate."

TBC…


End file.
